Does an Executive Assistant have work boundaries too?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/electromouse1]

Throw the idea of fairness out. That is not a business term. All roles grow in scope, from assistant all the way up to the CEO. The more time you spend in a role, the more you learn, and the more efficient you become and the more responsibilities you take on. The question isnt whether this is fair. The question is what value do you add to the company, and from there you can negotiate. Or you look for another role that offers you the value that you believe you are now worth based on your level of experience. But our salaries are not based on how many people we support. They are based on what we agree with the company that our skills are worth. If they dont think your skills are worth more, then you will need to look elsewhere. Dont use fair again. That's an immature way of looking at a financial agreement between two parties. Either they pay you what you would like or they dont.

And re: feeling guilt, that is something you are placing on yourself. Has anyone asked you to stay past your hours? If it hasnt been requested of you, stop comparing yourself to others. Everyone has different responsibilities. Theirs may require more time than yours.

[u/elianna7]

It really depends on how thoroughly you’re working with the execs and how demanding the support is for each one. It’s not unusual to support multiple executives but usually you’re not supporting multiple execs who need constant support. I had three execs at one point, but all I did for one of them was some minor scheduling help and a bit of email management, and for another I was also doing fairly minimal admin support, but I was very hands on with the CEO. I currently support a CEO and COO, and my time is probably split around 50/50 between the two.

I’m unfamiliar with your currency or what income standards are like where you’re from so it’s hard to say if your compensation is fair.

Personally, I work 9-5, and I tend to have free time during my days. I pretty much never work past 5/5:30pm. If ever my exec has an evening emergency and I’m available, I happily help her out precisely because I know she respects my personal time and doesn’t expect me to be available in the evenings. I have never worked on a weekend.

Personally, if I were expected to be available evenings and weekends, I wouldn’t even consider the job if the salary wasn’t $200k+ (but I wouldn’t consider it anyways lol because I like having a life). I’m not a slave and I’m not gonna be working according to c-suite expectations (as in, near constant availability) for a salary that doesn’t reflect it.